ne
of the most enjoyable facets of being a wine geek is following the
progress of favorite wines and favorite wineries; for instance, it’s
always fun to monitor how previous vintages of Ridge Geyserville
are coming along, and then to finally get a chance to taste the latest
version. I chose those examples, of course, because we did just that
recently. Charter Gangster Scott “The Geek”
Tobias dropped by a few weeks ago with
the 2002 model, and we
took another “reading” after more than a year. We also finally got to
try the ’03, thanks to a sample bottle from our buddy
Steve Kolody; it was slow in showing
up around these parts for the simple reason that the ’02 was rather slow
in sales, despite the best efforts of certain retailers. We’ve had
a few other new and old friends from Ridge in the past few weeks as
well, so what better way to queue up this feature than with a…

~ Mini-Ridge Report ~

2002 Ridge Geyserville Sonoma, 84%
Zinfandel, 12% Carignane, 4% Petite Sirah, $30, 14.6% alc.: Ruby
dark garnet in color, with sweet American oak / Draper perfume over
blackberry, raspberry and blueberry on both the nose and in the mouth,
with nice earthy undertones and a hint of lavender that add complexity
and character; Scott mentioned a note of cola, and with air, it gains a
creamy quality. The fruit is ripe, but not nearly as ripe as it seemed
when we first had it, and it has a lovely, silky smooth texture to it.
In fact, it seems almost lean, perhaps because it’s Zin-heavy and Pettie
Sarah-light compared to many previous Geezers.

Kim commented that this was “very pretty, juicy
and lush, but the more I drink these over the years, the more I like
them with some age.” Scott called the wine “refined and civilized,
almost over the top when first poured, but then really settles down.” I
simply found it to be a most enjoyable Geyserville that should continue to improve over at least the next few
years. Find this wine

2003 Ridge Geyserville Sonoma, 76% Zinfandel; 18%
Carignane; 6% Petite Sirah, $30, 14.6% alc.: Dark garnet color, with a
creamy black raspberry, blueberry, lavender and bubblegum nose, a nice
variation of the signature Ridge aromatic theme.
Flavors echo more or less, and very nicely so, being a little deeper and
darker on the palate, smoothly textured, deceptively
well structured and rich and ripe, but not over-the-top. As it opens
with air, it doesn’t so much evolve as it just smoothes out
and becomes even more generous with all that it has to offer. This is
delicious stuff to sip over the course of a 2 hour chess
game, and it’ll work quite nicely with a wide variety of food stuffs as
well. Like the ’02, the relatively small amount of Petite
Sirah seems to show in that it’s not as chunky / dark as many in the
past, but having said that, it’s another very fine
Geyserville, and why am I not surprised? Find this wine

2004 Ridge Lytton Springs Dry Creek Valley, 79% Zinfandel, 18% Petite
Sirah, 3% Carignane, $34.99, 14.5% alc.: Deep dark
garnet color, with a somewhat tight bouquet, giving coffee, toast and
chocolate; flavors echo with deep, dark black raspberry
and blackberry underneath. This one impresses us as being a nice, earthy
“old time” Zinfandel, without the usual perfume at
first, but the smooth, lovely textured Lytton fruit is obvious and
familiar. As it opens, it shows an excellent sense of balance, a long finish and more sweet fruit (including some blueberry) emerges,
along with something like that old perfume, but it isn’t
quite the same; is this one of the wines that illustrates
John Olney’s
increasing influence in the winemaking process at Ridge?
Whatever the case, it is a very enjoyable Zin blend, and one that should
improve for some years to come. Find this wine

2003 Ridge Lytton West Syrah Dry Creek Valley, 91% Syrah, 9% Viognier,
$34.99, 14.8% alc.: This, the first limited national
release of a Ridge Syrah, is the color of ink, fading to pink at the
rim, with a typical late model Ridge bouquet, offering creamy
dark berries and plums, with blueberry and raspberry overtones in both
flavor and aroma, and American oak in well balanced
proportion to the fruit. The smooth texture belies the excellent
structure and obvious aging potential, and the wine has a good
long finish. As Long (and boring) Tom Hill has observed with
Ridge ATP
versions of this in the past, it is more recognizable as
a Ridge red than a Syrah, but don’t hold that against it. It’s a most
enjoyable glass of wine now and for some years down the
line. Find this wine

~

We went on a big
Napa Cabernetkick about a year and a half ago, and we
were quite impressed with a lot of what we tasted.
It’s been that long since we last tried the ’01 Ladera Lone Canyon Cab,
and we liked it so much then, we thought it would be fun to see how it’s
coming along; to make things even more interesting, we gave it a
side-by-side comparison with the ’02 model.

2001 Ladera Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Lone Canyon, 100% Cabernet
Sauvignon, $62.99, 14.5% alc.: Dark garnet in color, and offering
pure, lovely Cabernet character, with rich, ripe (but not at all
over-ripe) somewhat earthy black currant and cassis on the nose and
palate, with subtle overtones of blackberry, perfectly integrated oak
and a slight note of dusty cocoa as it opens. With good extraction and
excellent structure, this will age for at least another 3-5 years, but
it’s so good already, it’s hard to keep the hands off of it now.
Definitely the better of these two vintages at this time.Find this wine

2002 Ladera Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Lone Canyon, 100% Cabernet
Sauvignon, $63.99, 14.9% alc.: Without looking at the labels of
these two wines, Kim remarked that this one shows more heat than the
’01, and she has a point; it’s a deep, dark garnet in color, with
richer, riper black currant, blackberry and blueberry fruit than the
previous model. It doesn’t seem quite as substantial in the middle, nor
as well structured, but as it opens, it smoothes out nicely, and loses
some of the heat. While not quite up to the ’01 at this time, it does
show promise for development over the next few years, and also has a
little more of everything than the following bottle, which was also
tasted on the same occasion. Find this wine

2001 Clark-Claudon Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Estate, $90, 14.2% alc.:
Dark garnet color, with significant toast over deep, dark black fruit on
the nose; sleek, streamlined cassis, black currant and blackberry
flavors also show the toast, from barrel char, no doubt. Nice density
and extraction, without any excess, and hints of mint, dark chocolate
and coffee emerge with air. This is obviously nowhere near its peak, but
it is already more than approachable; I’d love to try it again in 3-5
years. Find this wine

I first tasted the following wine about a year ago with Sally Schweiger
when she was in the area promoting her family’s wines; it was selling at
a discount then, and it’s even more deeply discounted now. Sales have
been brisk at the price listed below, and why not, when you consider
what’s in the bottle?

2000 Schweiger Vineyards Napa Cabernet Sauvignon Spring Mountain
District, $18.99, 14.2% alc.: Deep dark garnet in color, with an
earthy cassis, black currant and blackberry nose that shows a hint of
toast and sweet oak; the flavors echo with more of everything, gaining
some dusty black plum with air. With good weight and structure and a
slightly astringent finish, this makes a fine match for a grilled,
medium rare Delmonico steak, and still has a while to go before it’ll be
at its best. We’ve noticed some slight variation through about eight
bottles over the last five months, with most showing a bit more sweet,
rich fruit at the core than the one noted here, but they all exhibit
big, pure mountain Cabernet power and character, and offer great bang
for the buck. Find this wine